Pet Therapy for Hospice Patients

Bring the healing, unconditional love of therapy dogs to those who need it most.

Here's a program guaranteed to touch your heart. Home for Life®, in Star Prairie, Wisconsin, is a very special shelter: a shelter for rescued special-needs animals who have been given a second chance at life.

Now some of those rescued animals who found hope at Home for Life are giving back. Certified for pet therapy, rescued dogs are touching the lives of lonely, fragile, and sometimes forgotten members of society -- cancer patients, the mentally ill, injured soldiers, and residents of nursing homes and hospices.

The Sit*Stay*Heal program provides healing pet therapy to hospital patients and to the terminally ill. This collaborative program began with the Fairview University Hospitals to bring solace and joy to children who are undergoing treatment for cancer. The program has now expanded to serve:

Soldiers returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts who have suffered multiple, severe injuries and are receiving treatment and rehabilitation at the VA Hospital Polytrauma Unit in Minneapolis. This unit is one of just four such facilities in the entire country caring for severely injured veterans

The program creates and nurtures a special patient-pet bond that can help comfort and heal. Volunteers and certified therapy dogs commit to relationships with specific patients. Together, they consistently visit the same hospital or hospice patient every week. They do this knowing, in some cases, that their patient is dying.

Home for Life® dogs currently participating in the programs have struggled through their own problems and special needs to become shining stars when visiting their friends. Though sometimes boisterous at the sanctuary, they are gentle and sweet when they are with patients -- perhaps recognizing a kinship that crosses the lines of language and species.

You can help. Your donation through this Gift That Gives More™ helps fund a pet therapy visit for a hospital or hospice patient, through Home for Life®'s Sit*Stay*Heal program.

Home For Life® is a sanctuary that provides lifetime care for cats and dogs with special needs who cannot otherwise find homes, but who can still lead quality lives. These animals, including retired service dogs such as seeing eye dogs and K9s, come from across the U.S., from Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, and from many U.S. shelters that cannot find homes for them. In addition, Home for Life® trains many of its animals to give back as certified pet therapists through Pet Peace Corps, which serves hospital and hospice patients, families healing from domestic abuse, and at-risk youth.

Free Standard Shipping in the U.S. on your entire cart when you donate $15.00 or more in our Gift That Gives More™ program. See Current Promotions for details.

Why a Gift That Gives More™ is a smart, effective donation.

100% of your donation will go to the program described above as a grant through GreaterGood.org. GreaterGood stores do not receive any profit from donations through this Gift That Gives More™; we bring it to you in the spirit of the greater good. We even pay the credit card transaction fee, so every cent of your donation goes to charity.

Please note: A free downloadable certificate is available to print for easy gift giving for any non-disaster related Gift That Gives More™. The "gift message" field during check-out does not apply to your Gift That Gives More™ certificate.

Your donation is 100% tax-deductible in the U.S.A.

You will receive a receipt from GreaterGood.org for your taxes. GreaterGood.org has ultimate authority and discretion with regard to the distribution of its funds. All expenditures made are consistent with the exempt purposes of GreaterGood.org.